![]() ![]() Turning to the books, let’s begin with Democracy in America. But when you are representing human beings or deciding things that affect them, you need to understand, as best you can, the workings of human life. You need a good head to read all those words and figure out how they apply. Why is it important for lawyers and judges to read widely? The books you’ve cited as intellectual influences are not standards of the law school curriculum. If there’s a difference in the federal law interpretation, we’ll probably hear the case and try to iron it out. It could be a major question, it could be a minor question. Or it might involve whether Guantanamo prisoners are entitled to seek habeas corpus. It might involve a comma in the Internal Revenue Code, which different courts interpret differently. A case in front of us might involve the meaning of a statute. Our job, the nine of us, is basically to create a uniform rule of law by ironing out differences. ![]() We are most likely to hear those cases where lower courts have come to different conclusions about the same question of federal law. We work on difficult legal issues involving laws passed by Congress. So I’m going to ask a very simple question, because I know the answer is quite complex. When you took over his seat on the Supreme Court, Justice Harry Blackmun advised you, “When you have the chance, tell people what you do”. Foreign Policy & International Relations. ![]()
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